1, The Return - SPOILER: Show
Shinji woke up lying on a bed. As his consciousness returned, he kept his eyes tight shut: "I don't want to see another unfamiliar ceiling", he thought. But instead he could see only the image, seared into his brain, of Kaworu's head being blown off. He started sobbing, but it brought him no relief.
He tried to remember what had led to this. After a while he succeeded in recalling his expedition in the Evangelion with Kaworu to restore the world; Asuka's attempts to stop them; pulling the spears from Lilith's torso; the dreadful cataclysm which resulted; Kaworu stabbing the Evangelion with the spears. And so he was brought back to the only image that his mind could hold on to, the dreadful death of his one and only companion, the one he could talk to, the one who talked to him, who understood him, the one who was now dead.
But what of the present? He tried to work out how he came to be lying here, though he didn't yet know where he was or under what unfamiliar ceiling he lay. There wasn't much he could recall. Eventually he got a shadowy idea of Asuka pulling him out of the Evangelion, and across the sterile landscape. They were captured, he thought, and transported here in some vehicle; he could remember hints of Asuka's yells and attempts to fight their captors. And then nothing. Maybe he had just turned off his mind out of misery, or maybe they had been drugged to keep them quiet; he didn't know. And none of this memory stopped the image of death continuing to fill his consciousness.
He couldn't just lie there; he had to do something to try to distract himself from his awful memory. So he opened his eyes at last, and looked at the ceiling, the unfamiliar... NO! the familiar ceiling above him. He was back at Nerv, lying on the bed in the room that during his short time there had been his. The room where Kaworu had brought him his repaired music player, where Kaworu had taken the collar off him, the collar which... The image of it overwhelmed his thoughts once again, and he closed his eyes as tears streamed from them.
Perhaps some time passed. He heard a click as the door opened. A voice said "Ikari". His eyes opened, and slowly, with considerable effort, he sat up. He turned his head to see the speaker. Rei, the Rei who was different from the previous Rei, stood just inside the door. She spoke again: "The Commander wishes to see you". And then she turned and started walking away. Automatically, because there was nothing else to do, he got off the bed and followed her.
They stood facing each other in silence. Feeling that something should be said, Shinji spoke into the silence, saying: "He..., he died..." Gendou's face remained impassive as he responded: "I am pleased with you. You did what was expected; as a consequence you led the last angel to his death, and now I can proceed to the last part of my plan. You will wait until you are needed." Then he turned away, leaving Shinji with his thoughts, the thoughts of death. Would he ever again be without that image in the front of his mind?
He tried to remember what had led to this. After a while he succeeded in recalling his expedition in the Evangelion with Kaworu to restore the world; Asuka's attempts to stop them; pulling the spears from Lilith's torso; the dreadful cataclysm which resulted; Kaworu stabbing the Evangelion with the spears. And so he was brought back to the only image that his mind could hold on to, the dreadful death of his one and only companion, the one he could talk to, the one who talked to him, who understood him, the one who was now dead.
But what of the present? He tried to work out how he came to be lying here, though he didn't yet know where he was or under what unfamiliar ceiling he lay. There wasn't much he could recall. Eventually he got a shadowy idea of Asuka pulling him out of the Evangelion, and across the sterile landscape. They were captured, he thought, and transported here in some vehicle; he could remember hints of Asuka's yells and attempts to fight their captors. And then nothing. Maybe he had just turned off his mind out of misery, or maybe they had been drugged to keep them quiet; he didn't know. And none of this memory stopped the image of death continuing to fill his consciousness.
He couldn't just lie there; he had to do something to try to distract himself from his awful memory. So he opened his eyes at last, and looked at the ceiling, the unfamiliar... NO! the familiar ceiling above him. He was back at Nerv, lying on the bed in the room that during his short time there had been his. The room where Kaworu had brought him his repaired music player, where Kaworu had taken the collar off him, the collar which... The image of it overwhelmed his thoughts once again, and he closed his eyes as tears streamed from them.
Perhaps some time passed. He heard a click as the door opened. A voice said "Ikari". His eyes opened, and slowly, with considerable effort, he sat up. He turned his head to see the speaker. Rei, the Rei who was different from the previous Rei, stood just inside the door. She spoke again: "The Commander wishes to see you". And then she turned and started walking away. Automatically, because there was nothing else to do, he got off the bed and followed her.
They stood facing each other in silence. Feeling that something should be said, Shinji spoke into the silence, saying: "He..., he died..." Gendou's face remained impassive as he responded: "I am pleased with you. You did what was expected; as a consequence you led the last angel to his death, and now I can proceed to the last part of my plan. You will wait until you are needed." Then he turned away, leaving Shinji with his thoughts, the thoughts of death. Would he ever again be without that image in the front of his mind?
